RANDOLPH – Sitting on the deck of his Randolph home, Josh Lane thought about the journey it took to get there, a 10-day expedition to escape earthquake-ravaged Nepal and make it safely back to New Jersey.

Lane, 18, was nearing the end of a 9 month volunteering trip and hiking through Nepal when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit near the capital city of Kathmandu, about 150 miles away from him.

"I was sort of in a bowl between two mountain ranges at the time," Lane said. "We could see avalanches on the mountains in the distance, the shapes changing from boulders to just dirt."

Lane described the feeling of the earth moving beneath him for about two minutes when it hit, but had no idea at the time that the quake was anything serious.

"In the moment I thought it was localized. I was like 'that's cool,'" Lane said. "But my guide Shanker, had a creeping suspicion something was wrong."

Lane would later learn the earthquake and aftershocks had killed more than 8,000 and injured countless more, but at the time he had no idea. It wasn't until he made it to a small village that he even heard whispers of people hurt in Kathmandu.

"I realized if it hit there, and I felt it where I was, it was serious," Lane said. "We tried to make phone calls by there was no Wi-Fi or phone reception. We finally received our first bits of news and Shanker learned his home was destroyed. Our porter Sanjiv couldn't even reach his family because they were in such rural parts of Nepal."

Lane and his group hiked on, still not fully-aware of the magnitude of the situation, and each interaction brought worse news than the last. They also dealt with more than 70 aftershocks, some hitting a magnitude as high as 6.8.

"The days after the earthquake that cool feeling went away pretty quickly, seeing nature's destructive force in all its power," Lane said. "But we kept hiking because it seemed like we could press on."

They eventually reached a group of about 100 trekkers, guides, and porters, and Lane was able to text his parents to let them know he was safe. The severity of the disaster also finally set in.

"The enormity of the disaster was silencing," Lane said. "I realized I'm 18 years old and a volunteer. I want to help but I'm not qualified to aid in disasters."

Lane's guide and porter both found out their families were safe, but their villages were destroyed in the earthquake.

"I realized my family must be going crazy, Nepal is on its knees, and everyone is sleeping outside because they people questioned the structural integrity of buildings. And the place I was to volunteer at after my hike was closed until August," Lane said. "Government was saying if you didn't live there or were a relief worker, the best thing to do would be to leave so supplies could go to the people who need it."

But because of where Lane was, he and the fellow trekkers were faced with what seemed like an impossible decision. Do they carry on hiking, turn around, or stay put?

"Every option sounded bad. You don't want to play around with Mother Nature," Lane said. "But when I got on the phone with my parents and heard the tears in their voices, and the questions they asked me about if I had water and food, I knew I had to turn around and get home. I was torn because I wanted to stay, but I saw the bigger picture."

But getting home was easier said than done. Lane hiked three days' worth in just one, and crowded into a Jeep with about 15 others on a six-hour journey to Kathmandu over roads that no longer existed.

Lane made it to Kathmandu six days after the initial earthquake.

"Things looked post-apocalyptic," Lane said. "The panic was gone but everything was just rubble."

He caught the first available flight to New Delhi a few days later.

"There was a feeling in the airport of 'this is a disaster and we need to get away.' The airport was crazy busy as you could imagine," Lane said. "Once I landed in New Delhi I let out a big sigh, got a hotel, and waited for a flight home."

Lane landed in Newark at 5 a.m. May 5, 10 days after the earthquake hit.

"It was a relief to land in the U.S., to go through customs and see my mom running over to me," Lane said. "To hear the tears in their voices still, to hear that at 18 is a very very real thing."

Lane said he plans to become certified in disaster training soon so he can be a leader should he ever face a similar situation to the Nepal earthquake in the future.

But Lane said when he looks back on his months of volunteering, it's not the final days in Nepal that will stick with him most.

"This was an incredible nine months," Lane said. "I'm a different person than when I started. I helped build villages in Thailand, documented people in fishing slums, taught English in India. Who gets to do that?"

Lane also said he's prepared to "give it his all" when he starts studying photography at the University of New Mexico in September.

Until then, he plans to blog, take photos, and catch up with family and friends.

"To be home, back safe with the people you love, I'm very grateful. I was fortunate to be where I was and with a guide who kept his head on or I could have been dead," Lane said. "But it's still a nightmare over there. There is a long road for Nepal."

Lane's mother is hosting a fundraiser at the Morristown YMCA to raise money for Nepal relief efforts.

"Nia for Nepal," a dance, martial arts and yoga class, will be held 12:45 p.m. May 16. All are welcome and donations for Nepal relief will be accepted.